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Friday, June 24, 2011

Meeting Metalion at the Slayer Diaries Release Party

Not the best of days, but I put aside all the bullshit and made it to powerHouse Arena in Brooklyn to attend The Slayer Mag Diaries release party. There was a good sized crowd, but I was still disappointed in the attendance. C'mon Bedford Avenue metalheads - you can dress up like the back of a Kreator cover, but can't make it to see the guy who actually covered all the kvlt metal you profess to love? You fucking poseurs.

It was pretty much what you'd expect from a black metal book party - Dissection and Bathory blared through the second floor of powerHouse, and black candles burned on the floor. Pinned to the walls were photos of metal's elite, with a special centerpiece dedicated to Euronymous.

The book itself is gigantic - at over 700 pages, it really does feel like the bible of black metal. The interviews are simple and often times a little too fanboyish, but pretty good considering Metalion was writing in a second language. The best part are the introductions he writes to each chapter (the book is divided into the 20 different issues he put out over a 15 year period). In these, the legendary metal figure bares his soul and talks about his emotional state while preparing the magazine, as well as his various struggles to keep connected to the underground metal scene as it grew exponentially and changed. These passages are extremely touching and frequently profound without ever being pretentious. Towards the end the man's devotion to the metal lifestyle paints him as something of a tragic figure, compared to the legendary metal gods that he interviews from the beginning. Dead and Euronymous are celebrated martyrs, and bands like Emperor and Immortal have reached near rock star status, but Metalion's life is decidedly lacking in glamour.

Of course, I had to get a picture with the man himself. I made it a point of wearing my t-shirt of the Requiem Metal Podcast - the best representation of carrying on Metalion's legacy I can think of. I don't know if they'll ever get to meet in the flesh, but I did my best to bring them together in spirit.